The present invention relates generally to managing the temperature risk levels throughout a product""s life cycle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for shipping of products so as to maintain a product-keeping profile.
Products such as fruits, vegetables, televisions, computers, pharmaceuticals, photosensitive film and paper, chocolate, and chemicals, are shipped for distribution. Shipping of such products from a first geographic location (point A) to a second geographic location (point B) can require one or more modes of transportation, including truck, ship (i.e., boat), airplane, rail, bicycle, and automobile. The term xe2x80x9cmulti-modal transportationxe2x80x9d is used to refer to the use of more than one mode of transportation during shipment.
During shipment, such products may require a conditioned environment (e.g., chilled, heated, humidified, non-oxidized, and/or magnetically shielded environment) to ship the product from a manufacturing/assembly site to a distribution site so as to maintain the integrity of the product. For example, milk is a product requiring refrigeration, therefore, a chilled environment is preferred during distribution to maintain the product within the product-keeping profile. Similarly, photosensitive film and paper is preferably maintained within a product-keeping profile (e.g., temperature range, humidity range) to maintain the integrity of the photosensitive characteristics. For example, if a photosensitive film""s temperature-keeping requirements are exceeded, the film may not perform to its optimum expectations and may result in the product being unsuitable for its intended purpose.
Providing a conditioned environment for shipping can be expensive. For example, a refrigerated truck may be more expensive to maintain/operate than a non-refrigerated truck. Accordingly, it is economically preferable to not use a conditioned environment if such a conditioned environment is not required. Yet, weather conditions, the time of year, and location of distribution facilities, are factors which can affect the need for a conditioned shipping environment. For example, a refrigerated truck may not be needed if shipping within the state of Minnesota in January, but might be needed if shipping from Minnesota to the state of Florida in April. Accordingly, to ensure that the product integrity is maintained, a conditioned environment is generally utilized.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,285 (Flinn) is directed to a computer based system for controlling the movement of at least one material along an identified product path within a manufacturing process. Flinn provides a system for the movement of material between workstations within a computer based manufacturing system. Factors considered include velocity/distance or travel time, capacity, authorization required, fragility, and cost and current status of the type of transport. Flinn is directed to a xe2x80x9cjust-in-timexe2x80x9d manufacturing system wherein the material being transported between workstations is transformed in some manner at each workstation. Thus, while this system may be suitable for its intended purpose, Flinn is not directed to maintaining a product-keeping profile during the distribution process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,813 (Fox) is directed to a computer-based system and method which incorporates long-range weather forecasts in a predictive model to predict future weather impact on managerial plans, such as for buying, distribution, and budgeting. U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,506 (Brockwell) is directed to a cost estimation system which estimates the cost of supplying parts to a manufacturing facility. While these systems may be suited for their intended purposes, they do not recognize or address the need to maintain a product-keeping profile during shipping.
A Consortium for Distribution of Packaging at Michigan State University (MSU) developed a software model employing a mathematical model to predict the temperature variations in the lading inside a trailer, railcar, or other container in transit. This software model is directed to distribution within the United States within 24 hours, with a single mode of transport and a single product. While the software model may be suited for its intended purpose, it is not directed to multi-leg, multi-product, worldwide product distribution by means of multi-modal transport (including particularly ship, airplane, and staging, storage and customs area) which is needed for international companies distributing multiple products worldwide. In addition, the MSU software model does not provide for a statistical tolerance for the anticipated weather. That is, the software model does not provide for defining confidence intervals for the expected weather. Further, the MSU software model does not recognize a need for a Product Keeping Profile. Rather, the MSU software model determines the predicted temperature of the product; it does not determine if product integrity was maintained or violated. Still further, the MSU software model does not provide for condensation inside the trailer. The MSU software model provides a first order Lumped Mass method for solving a transient heat transfer problem. Such a Lumped Mass method is based on the idealized assumption that the product temperature inside the container is homogeneous and uniform throughout. However, in a real-world situation, there is typically a temperature gradient across the product(s) in the container, particularly when the container is exposed to daily weather variations. Further, while the Lumped Mass method may be suitable for a coarse solution, it is generally not suitable for manufacturers and suppliers requiring the entire contents of the container to be safely and reliable shipped so as to be in saleable condition.
Accordingly, a need continues to exist for a method of modeling shipping with the ability to determine whether a conditioned environment is needed to ship a product so as to maintain a product-keeping profile. In particular, a need continues to exist for a method of determining a product""s thermal exposure as it is distributed worldwide through any combination of transportation modes in a multi-leg distribution route within a user-defined statistical bound so that a shipper can determine whether a conditioned environment is needed. A need also continues to exist for a method for determining a product""s cumulative exposure to non-uniform thermal variations within a shipping container. In addition, a need continues to exist for a method of comparing a forecasted exposure to a permissible exposure (i.e., the product-keeping profile) to determine whether the product integrity has been maintained. Further, such methods should be suitable for the simultaneous transport of multiple products. Still further, a need continues to exist for determining a product""s thermal exposure using historical weather data within a desired statistical reliability.
An object of the invention is to provide a method of determining a product""s thermal exposure during shipping.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a method directed to the worldwide distribution of a product through any combination of transportation modes in a single or multi-leg distribution route and at any time of the year.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a method for determining a product""s cumulative exposure to non-uniform thermal variations within a shipping container.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of determining a forecasted thermal exposure and comparing the exposure to a permissible exposure (i.e., a product-keeping profile) to determine whether a conditioned environment is needed for shipping.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide such a method which is suitable for the simultaneous transport of multiple products and which uses historical weather data within a desired statistical reliability.
These objects are given only by way of illustrative example. Thus, other desirable objectives and advantages inherently achieved by the disclosed invention may occur or become apparent to those skilled in the art. The invention is defined by the appended claims.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of determining a cumulative thermal exposure of a product disposed within a shipping container. The method comprises defining a shipping route from a first geographic location to a second geographic location, with the shipping route comprising at least one geographic position intermediate the first and second geographic location. A thermal product-keeping exposure profile for the product is provided, as is the thermal characteristics of the shipping container and a historical weather database of ambient temperature. An ambient temperature is retrieved from the historical weather database corresponding to the first and second geographic locations and at least one geographic position along the shipping route. The retrieved ambient temperature is then corresponded to an ambient temperature within the shipping container, and then the ambient temperature within the shipping container is corresponded to a product temperature of the product disposed within the shipping container. A cumulative thermal exposure of the product is developed using the corresponding product temperature. A determination is then made regarding whether the cumulative thermal exposure of the product is within the thermal product-keeping exposure profile.
The present invention provides a method of determining a product""s thermal exposure as it is distributed worldwide through any combination of transportation modes in a multi-leg distribution route. The present invention also provides a method for determining a product""s cumulative thermal exposure to non-uniform thermal variations within a shipping container. Still further, the present invention provides a method of comparing a forecasted exposure to a permissible exposure to determine whether a conditioned environment is appropriate during shipping. The method is suitable for the simultaneous transport of multiple products and uses historical weather data within a desired statistical reliability.